The Eleventh Hour

Today my brother-in-law is having surgery on his knee. Back in March he went on a ski trip with some buddies from Church, without the wives. If you know Steve, then you know that he likes to take risks and try everything at least once. Apparently he tried something he shouldn't have, and came back to Krista limping. A few weeks later we found out that he tore his ACL. He was devastated, knowing that this was going to stop him from being active for quite a long time. For him, the worst part was that he would be unable to play basketball for up to a year.

I would like to ask anyone who reads this today or in the next few weeks to please keep Steve in your thoughts and prayers. He will be stuck at home, not returning to work until July 5th. I really want him to be able to be back on his feet and in good shape so we can go to Live 8 on July 2nd. But I'm not going to push him or anything. If Krista (our occupational therapist in training) says no, then I will accept it.

Here is an email that my sister sent to friends and family last night that explains it all a bit more:

Well, tomorrow is the day Steve is finally having his ACL repair surgery done. We will get to the surgery center about 9:30, and the surgery will start about 11am. They say it will be about 1.5 hours since he is using his own hamstrings for the repair. The doctor said he would come out and let me know how everything went when they are finished. Then Steve will slowly be brought back from the anesthesia and as soon as he is able to drink a glass of water we will head home.

I have made our ground floor level accessible to him and he's all set up with his tv and nintendo. He will be on some heavy pain meds for the first 48 hours and then will only take them as needed. His leg will be immobilized and he will be homebound for a couple of weeks. Since it is his right leg he will have to pass a test to determine when he can start driving again. His PT starts right away this coming Monday.

He is not being given a bell to ring but he will be getting "baby'd" by me and Riley. Riley provided him with a crossword puzzle book, M&Ms and Spaceballs on DVD so he can have some classic entertainment. He won't be able to get to the computer b/c it is up the stairs so if anyone wants to harass him you'll have to call the house or one of our cell phones. He will be incommunicado for the first day b/c of the drugs and anesthesia.

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers during this time.

Note: Krista and Steve live in a townhouse, so this is especially difficult for him. Their bedroom is upstairs and the family room where the tv and nintendo and all the hanging out is done is in the basement. Luckily they have a smaller, more portable tv that she moved for him. I think my sister needs just as much prayer during this time as Steve does!